


Trance

by tiahwinchester



Category: Funhaus
Genre: Hypnotism, Love Confessions, M/M, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-27
Updated: 2015-06-27
Packaged: 2018-04-06 06:23:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4211436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tiahwinchester/pseuds/tiahwinchester
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>James has become interested in hypnotism and wants to test his newly learned skills on Bruce. What he finds out during the Trance has him questioning a few things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Trance

**Author's Note:**

> This took a very cutesy turn that I definitely did not originally intend on doing. Oh well, I still love it.

"I'm just curious is all." said James, "Hypnotism has been known to work on certain people."

"It doesn't work, I'm telling you. You can't alter someones mind like that, not without drugs or something." Bruce defended. They were on their lunch break at Chipotle along with Joel and Lawrence when James and Bruce had gotten into an argument when James said that he'd like to take a class in hypnosis.

"But it's all the power of persuasion."

Bruce rolled his eyes, "That's bullshit and you know it."

Lawrence interjected, "James is kind of right. It's believed that persuasion is extremely effective. Hypnosis is a way to persuade."

Joel chuckled, "Says who?"

"Says many extremely smart scientists." said James, taking a bite of his burrito.

"Listen, if you're so curious, then take that class. Then you can test your skills on me, if I don't tell you how I didn't stop peeing the bed until I was in the 5th Grade then you give me $50, if I do, then $100 is yours." Bruce offered.

Lawrence scoffed, "He can't learn how to do that in one lesson, he's going to need at le-"

James cut him off, "Deal." he said, holding out his hand for Bruce to shake.

He did so with a smirk, "Well, you might wanna book your lesson then."

* * *

James went to the teaching that Friday and on the following Saturday, Bruce showed up at James' apartment along with Joel and Lawrence as witnesses.

"Alright. What do I have to do?" asked Bruce, looking around for any weird scented candles or jars or anything but found nothing.

James racked his brain for the steps he was given, "Uh...she said they had to be very comfortable, so I guess just lay on the couch?"

Lawrence and Joel sat on the love seats either side of the couch whilst James dragged a dining chair over and sat in front of him. 

James pulled a pocket watch from his jeans. Bruce rolled his eyes and leaned his head against the arm rest.

James began swinging the watch back and forth, "Now, Bruce, look at the watch and follow its movements." he said softly, "On the count of three you are going to fall into a trance. During that trance you will answer any and all questions asked completely honestly." Bruce smirked and nodded, rolling his eyes again, but still following the watch. "Ready? One." Bruce felt his brain begin to clear. "Two." he felt his eyes droop. "Three." suddenly, he felt like he was falling through the world into a dark abyss where he was left in silence, he tried calling out but he couldn't speak, it was almost as if something else had overtaken his body.

"Bruce?" asked Joel worriedly.

"Bruce?!" Lawrence urged.

"Yes." said Bruce sitting up, his tone completely emotionless, his face the same.

"Can you hear me?" James said.

"Yes."

James cleared his throat, "Alright, Bruce, have you ever shit yourself?"

"Yes," he responded, "Quite a few times. I often wonder if I'll be wearing adult diapers at 50."

Joel began giggling, when James shushed him he struggled to not release the laughter bubbling in his throat.

"D'you guys have a question?" James asked.

Lawrence nodded and moved into James' spot in front of Bruce, "Was it you who drew a mustache on Miku Hatsune?"

"Yes, but it _was_ Adam's idea."

Lawrence hissed, "Son of a bitch."

"My turn." said Joel, eagerly pushing Lawrence out of the way, "Okay, Bruce. Did you ever sleep with an older woman when you were younger?"

"Why the fuck would you want to know that?" said Lawrence, shaking his head and squinting at him.

He shrugged, "Just something that's been on my mind for a while."

James lay back on the couch and muttered to Lawrence, "That's a fucking weird thing to wonder. I think we better do this on _him_ next." Lawrence chuckled quietly.

"No, I was always intimidated by older woman."

Joel huffed and moved out the way so now James was back in front. "Alright, Bruce, who was your first time with and where?"

"Abby Nelson," he answered, "In the 11th grade under the stadium seats at school."

James screwed his nose up, "Ew."

Lawrence thought of another question and his eyes widened when it popped into his head, "Bruce, have you ever had a crush on someone of the same sex?"

There was a short pause before Bruce reluctantly answered, "Yes." but that was it.

Not satisfied with the answer, Joel sat in front and asked, "How old were you?"

Again, there was a longer pause this time but eventually, he replied with, "Thirty-three."

 Joel frowned, "But you're...Thirty-three now?"

"Correct." said Bruce.

James smirked, he practically pushed Joel off the chair and asked, "Is it someone we know?"

"Yes."

"Oooooo." said Joel, smiling.

"Are you sure this isn't a little too invading?" Lawrence questioned as he sat in the chair for his turn.

"Nah, he won't remember what he said when he wakes up, it's _fine_." James reassured, he couldn't give this up now.

"Ask who it is." Joel urged and James agreed, "Yeah, ask that."

Lawrence rolled his eyes and asked, unsure, "Who is it?"

There was a long silence where Bruce bit his lip, clearly having a fight inside his head, finally, he stuttered, "His name is J-Ja...James."

The other two turned to James who sunk into the couch, his cheeks radiating red, "I think we should stop now." he mumbled.

"Wait, I want to ask one more question." said Joel, much to the protest from Lawrence. "Bruce," he began, "have you ever had a wet dream about James?"

Bruce sighed, "Yes. They come up quite often. Sometimes even in the office I fantasize about him, about us. Whenever I stare at the keyboard for a long period of time, that's what I'm doing."

"Alright we're stopping now!" James demanded, "Bruce, when I clap my hands you'll wake up and forget everything that just happened." he quickly said before clapping his hands.

Bruce's eyes shot open and he shook his head, "Woah, what the fuck happened? Did you guys drug me?" he asked suspiciously.

"Duuuuude." Joel laughed, "It _actually_ worked."

Bruce raised an eyebrow, "No fucking way. What did I say?"

Joel was about to tell but James quickly cut him off, "Nothing. I mean, nothing of real interest. Just that you shit yourself sometimes."

Bruce looked embarrassed, "Well it's not sometimes, it's very rarely." he got up to leave, Lawrence and Joel following.

"We're gonna have to get you some diapers for your birthday huh?" Lawrence joked as they exited.

Bruce rolled his eyes, "Shut the fuck up." he handed James a $100 note and shook his head.

"See you on Monday, James." they said their goodbyes.

"Yeah, see ya." he murmured, still flustered from the before happenings. He closed the door behind them, he leaned against it. Did he like Bruce back? Was he even attracted to Bruce at all? He recounted the day he first saw Bruce, Adam was bringing him on and James stood awkwardly next to him like a child meeting new people, he attempted to hide behind him. 

"This is Bruce." he motioned towards the smiling man.

James noticed his smile lines, and knowing that he smiled often gave him a sense of comfort, he extended his hand and gave a weak smile, "James." he introduced.

"Welcome, man. I know we're only small now but Mr Big Shot over there," he nodded towards Adam, "says he's hiring more soon." 

James nodded, "So where do I sit?" he asked, noticing the lack of room in the small office.

"Unfortunately, you're out here." he said, opening the door and pointing to a desk just outside. "Hope you won't miss me too much." he joked with a wink.

James' heart fluttered, his face felt hot and his stomach tightened. 

At the time, he'd blamed it on something he ate. But now looking back on it, it was something he'd felt before but yet it was so new. He'd felt feelings like this towards others, but this was more, all of it was heightened. There had been times after as well, whenever they hugged, when he looked right into his eyes, on his birthday when Bruce gave him a kiss on the cheek as a drunk joke, he thought he was going to puke after his stomach did that many back flips. He wanted nothing more on that New Years than to grab his face and kiss him as passionately as possible, and his heart hurt when he decided it was because he had too much to drink and went home. James realized now that Bruce was so very special to him, he made him laugh until he cried, he made him feel things that he never knew he could before, he felt attraction and loving and passion and idolization towards him all at the same time. He was everything James wanted and more.

That night, he spent his time lying in bed not falling asleep planning the words he would tell Bruce on Monday. 

* * *

As James arrived into the office building on Monday morning and slowly approached their small space, his palms grew sweaty and he felt light headed.

"Mooooorning, James!" greeted Joel with a wink, "Bruce is already inside."

And there he was, at his desk reading an email. James took a moment to appreciate how he chewed on his bottom lip as he concentrated. He marveled at his gorgeous eyes as they scanned the contents. 

"Hey, James." Lawrence snapped him back into reality and handed him a coffee.

He took a sip and breathed in deep, walking over to his desk and sitting down. He released the breath and booted up his computer.

***

Throughout the day, James was distracted. His eyes couldn't help but wander down to Bruce. 

As a video played through his headphones his eyes skipped across the screen and over to him. James' heart skipped a beat as he noticed Bruce's eyes staring at the keyboard, not blinking, just daydreaming. He gulped down some water and quickly turned back to his screen. But again, his eyes couldn't help but waver. He noticed a smirk play across his lips and his mind ran wild with the thoughts of what Bruce was picturing him doing. James was quickly brought back from his own daydream as Bruce cleared his throat and looked to him.

James smiled awkwardly and quickly turned back to his work. 

Every time Bruce would get up and go out of the room, James encouraged himself to go and follow him to tell him how he felt but he always chickened out and sat back down in his seat.

The end of the day was nearing and James was having an inner war. He realized that he had gotten hardly any work done and sighed. _'Maybe I should go to the bathroom, rethink all this.' 'Maybe I'm just not ready...'_ he told himself as he got up and made his way to the bathroom.

He closed the bathroom door and looked at himself in the mirror, he looked sweaty and agitated, exactly how he felt. He washed the pool of salty water from his palms and splashed his face. He hadn't noticed that Bruce had entered and jumped when he turned around. "Bruce, what're you doing in here?" he questioned shakily.

Bruce folded his arms and asked, "Did I say something bad during that whole trance on Saturday?"

James' words caught in his throat, "No." he stuttered, "Like I said, nothing really interesting."

Bruce raised his eyebrows, "Really? Because it sure looks like I've said something to make you uncomfortable around me."

James felt his heart relax and he moved in closer to him, "No," he said soothingly, "I could never be uncomfortable around you."

Bruce frowned and tilted his head. 

God, James thought he looked so cute right now, like a lost puppy he wanted to wrap up in his arms and take him home, and cuddle him and love him. He hadn't noticed that he had slowly moved closer and closer, smiling gently. James took a second to take in how Bruce's eyes darted from his lips back to his eyes before leaning in and kissing him softly. 

Bruce unwrapped his arms and instead wrapped his arms around James' broad shoulders. James' hands settled on his waist, pulling him closer.

Finally, they broke away.

"I love you." James whispered like they'd said it to each other a million times and yet it still had that meaningful and truly loving tone to it.

Bruce smiled, "I love you too." 


End file.
